The Dream For Which They Fought: Book 1
by Hermione Jean Longbottom
Summary: When Petunia writes a letter to Remus about Vernon's abusive nature, Remus takes in Harry Potter and raises him as a single father along with his own child, Regulus. Can he give Harry the love he deserves? Will Harry be able to confront the destiny that lies ahead of him? Read and review please!


**I do not own Harry Potter! Thanks to Pepper1622 for betareading this chapter.**

**PROLOGUE: A LETTER CHANGES IT ALL**

The story of Harry Potter is one that comes about with a miracle—his survival against one of the most powerful dark wizards ever known was really a miraculous feat, considering at the time he was only one year old. His parents, James and Lily Potter, had been killed in an attempt to protect their son from the dark wizard, Voldemort. The greatest wizard ever known, Albus Dumbledore, had placed baby Harry on the doorstep of Lily's only living relatives, the Dursleys, as he wanted Harry to be held under blood protection that would guard him from the mark placed on him by Voldemort, showing that he must be the one chosen to defeat the Dark Lord.

However, what Dumbledore did not know was what kind of man Vernon Dursley was, and the dangerous hands he was leaving the boy in. The boy whom everyone depended on to one day rid the world of Lord Voldemort— the boy Lord Voldemort wanted to kill with his own hands. Vernon was the type of man who was drunk, unemployed and abusive. He even brutally beat and constantly raped his own wife, Petunia. Petunia, fearing for her nephew's life, dug up the old address of Remus Lupin, one of Lily's friends, if she remembered correctly. She didn't even know if he would respond, but she had to try; regardless of her relationship with her sister, she couldn't let another innocent life suffer her fate, and to some degree felt the same for her baby boy, since if it were up to Vernon, the child would be dead by now.

Petunia grabbed a pen; Vernon was asleep right now so she could write the letter. She began writing.

_Dear Lupin,_

_I do not know if Lily ever mentioned me to you, but I am her older sister. My name is Petunia. One of your people, Dumbledore, left Lily's son on my doorstep. I am putting this in the nicest way possible, but Harry is not safe here. Vernon is not what you would call an appropriate role model._

_He has beaten me since the first day of our marriage, and it is enough that I cannot protect my own son; but I don't want Harry to suffer what I did. I don't know if you can, but please, if possible, take this innocent child away from here for his own safety. I don't know if you still reside at this address, but you are my last hope._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Petunia_

Petunia contacted her friend Lavina—who was a squib, though Petunia didn't know that—and Lavina had promised to get the letter to the appropriate person. It traveled through the Ministry, then to some wizards that Lavina knew, and finally to the small cottage where Remus Lupin currently resided with his two-year-old son, Regulus Black Lupin. Remus opened the door. The witch that had been sent to deliver the letter gave the letter to the man.

"This letter comes to you from a muggle—Petunia Dursley née Evans," the witch explained. Remus was surprised, but somewhat less, since he knew who Petunia was through Lily, and muggles didn't usually send letters by owl post. Remus slightly shook his ragged brown hair, his face appearing to be tired and his hazel eyes weary yet alert at the same time.

Upon reading the letter, a light frown filled his face. He put down the letter and went into another room, grabbing dust from a tin usually kept near the windowsill, and threw it into the fire, promptly shouting, "Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts!" The only way to reach Hogwarts was by Floo Powder, as the other form of travelling known as Apparition could not be used for Hogwarts, since there was a protection making it impossible to Apparate in and out of Hogwarts ground.

Once Remus arrived, Dumbledore looked up through his half-moon spectacles, observing Remus for a moment before inviting the other man to take a seat. Remus ran a hand through his hair but simply handed the letter from Petunia to Dumbledore. Dumbledore took the letter and read over it before putting it down.

"Remus, it is crucial Harry remain with the Dursleys. Petunia can provide blood protection for him against Voldemort, which no one else can," Dumbledore said, and Remus looked at the old man as if he had lost his marbles before looking directly into the other's eyes.

"I can provide blood protection for Harry, too. Once Lily found out about 'my furry little problem', she knew it resulted in blood loss. We had the same blood type, so she donated blood to me every full moon," Remus told him. No one—not even Dumbledore—knew this, only the Marauders and Lily, since she was donating the blood. The brown-haired boy glanced over at the Headmaster to see his reaction and saw he was smiling, looking pleased.

"Remus, this news changes everything. It means you can take and raise Harry," Dumbledore said; then, catching the doubt in Remus's eyes, he continued. "The Ministry won't be able to put in place their anti-adoption laws because this concerns the boy whom the whole Wizarding World depends on. He cannot grow up in an abusive environment, especially when there is a choice." Dumbledore was looking at Remus as if awaiting an answer.

Remus was secretly hoping the Ministry wouldn't cause too much of a fuss over him adopting Harry; he wanted to raise the son of his best friend as his own without anyone ruining it for him. He knew he could never have any more kids—after all, who on earth would want to marry or love a monster like him? Sirius had been his one and only love. He just hoped he would be a good parenting figure to Harry. He could tell Dumbledore was still waiting for his answer.

"I'll do it," Remus said softly, so low he could barely hear it himself; but from the smile forming on his old Headmaster's face he could tell the other had heard. He felt himself flush, but inside he was happy upon gaining the offer; he had been depressed after the death of James and Lily, but now the thought of raising his best friend's son slightly lifted that emotional burden.

Nothing could make the werewolf happier right now, and he knew James and Lily would prefer him to the Dursleys. The thought made him both sad and happy at the same time. Sad, because two of the people he had loved had both been killed because of his other best friend and former lover Sirius Black—who had given away the location of where James and Lily were staying—and his other best friend, Peter Pettigrew, had attempted to get revenge on Sirius, but had been killed. Peter had died a hero's death—it had been all over the Daily Prophet.

Remus was happy, because until their last breath, James and Lily had always been supportive of him, despite him being a monster. Their acceptance meant so much to him that he could not even explain it. Sirius's betrayal had hit deep, but Remus tried not to think about his former lover too much.


End file.
